High School Students Test Skills At Competition Day

Emilie Jenson, Public Information Office
4/9/2024

For the first time in four years, Competition Day returned to the Iowa Central campus, giving students the opportunity to test their knowledge in a variety of career and subject areas.

Students from Fort Dodge Senior High, Saint Edmond Catholic, Southeast Valley, Eagle Grove, Sioux Central, East Sac County, Pocahontas Area, GMG-Garwin and the Greene County, Eagle Grove and Triton Career Academies participated in the competitive activities completing everything from business plans to fire pits and CPR skills tests to cupcake decorating in Business Shark Tank, Welding Fabrication, Health Science, and Culinary, Baking, and Hospitality Management categories.

“The whole idea of the competition is to give students in our area a chance to see how they stack up to other students,” said TJ Martin, Dean of Distance Learning at Iowa Central. “It is all about career exploration and a great way for students see where they rank among their peers and students from other schools.”

In the Health Sciences Department, students completed an “Amazing Race” type competition, stopping at several health care stations around campus to perform skills and answer trivia questions. When the skill was performed and the questions had been answered correctly, they received a clue to their next stop. Stations included Radiologic Technology, Dental Hygiene, EMS, Medical Laboratory Technician, Medical Assisting and Long-Term Care Nursing.

A team of Anatomy and Physiology students from Sioux Central were on the Medical Assisting leg of their race, testing out their gloving skills. Each student had put on a lab coat, come into contact with a “bleeding arm” and successfully remove and dispose of their gloves without splatter to be allowed to pass the lab coat onto the next teammate and move on. When each student had successfully de-gloved, they answered questions on the topic and then received their next clue to head for EMS.

“It’s been a good review of skills for me,” said Landen Tate, a student at Sioux Central. “A lot of these have been things we learned in our CNA classes.”

Jen Wittmaack, science instructor at Sioux Central said she appreciated the opportunity for her students to work alongside individuals who are experienced in their fields.

“It’s been a great opportunity for them to do hands-on activities with experts in the field,” said Wittmaack. “It’s great to see them work and learn from each other in an immersive environment. They are a group with a lot of different experiences; some are lifeguards, some are CNAs.”

In the EMS session, students tested their hands only CPR skills and the use of AED defibrillators. As they performed CPR on a Bluetooth enabled mannequin, students watched as they moved an ambulance across a screen with their chest compressions and at each checkpoint, a different student took over.

“CPR is a lifesaving skill everyone should know,” said Paul Arens, EMS program coordinator. “These kids have all been very knowledgeable today.”

Across campus in the culinary kitchens, eight teams of two students were completing their own version of “Cupcake Wars.”

Eight teams of two students made cupcakes and buttercream frosting with which they were encouraged to be creative with flavors and fillings.

“The whole object of the course is to use their skills to make it appealing,” said Culinary Arts Program Coordinator Michael Hirst. “We’re letting them use their imaginations to come up with a myriad of colors, flavors and fillings for their cupcakes. When they’re done here, they’ll prepare a bistro sandwich and test how well they know their herbs and spices by scent.”

William Davenport and Ona Mae Dougherty from East Sac worked with a variety of dyes to make their forest themed cupcakes presentable while trying out new baking skills.

“This isn’t something we’ve tried before,” said Davenport. “We’re putting our creativity on the line.”

The Saint Edmond duo of Trey Wilkins and Madison Hepperle crafted a white chocolate icing and a raspberry filling for their cupcakes.

“We’re rolling with it today,” said Wilkins, who was competing with cupcakes for the first time.

“It has been a fun experience to test the skills we do know,” said Hepperle.

Their “rolling with it” proved successful as Wilkins and Hepperle took first place in the overall Culinary, Baking and Hospitality Management Division.

 

2024 Iowa Central Competition Day Results

Business Shark Tank

Third Place: Pocahontas Area Team 1 – Amanda Davis, Caleb Roberts, Thomas Stangl, Brennen Storms, Erin Stuchlik

Second Place: Pocahontas Area Team 2 – Catherine McCollough, Juila Anderson, Kinzie Johnson, Cael Hull, Eli Stuchlik

First Place: GMG Garwin – Jacob Cornwell, Jacob Collins, Aidan White, Caiden Priske

 

Culinary, Baking & Hospitality Management

Baking Third Place: Caitlin Christopher and Allyson Capsel, Eagle Grove

Baking Second Place: Myrah Lemmon and Merayna Valdez, Saint Edmond

Baking First Place: Trey Wilkins and Madison Hepperle, Saint Edmond

 

Culinary Third Place: Blake Seeman and Hunter Stevens, Fort Dodge

Culinary Second Place: Trey Wilkins and Madison Hepperle, Saint Edmond

Culinary First Place:  Grant Riley and Seijin Noborikawa, Fort Dodge

 

Hospitality Management Third Place: Allyson Capsel and Caitlin Christopher, Eagle Grove

Hospitality Management Second Place: Grant Riley and Seijin Noborikawa, Fort Dodge

Hospitality Management First Place: Trey Wilkins and Madison Hepperle, Saint Edmond

 

Overall Culinary, Baking & Hospitality Management Third Place: Allyson Capsel and Caitlin Christopher, Eagle Grove

Overall Culinary, Baking & Hospitality Management Second Place: Grant Riley and Seijin Noborikawa, Fort Dodge

Overall Culinary, Baking & Hospitality Management First Place: Trey Wilkins and Madison Hepperle, Saint Edmond

 

Health Science

Third Place: Pocahontas Area – Ava Lenz, Madyson Panbecker, Nicole Panbecker, Kylie North, Jada Speer, Tayler Wykoff, Kira Kollbaum

Second Place: Sioux Central – Jaylen Champ, Alivia Glover, Aiden Knudtson, Layla Scruggs, Micah Scruggs, Landon Tate, Natalie Laursen

First Place: Fort Dodge – Kiara Agnitsch, Gavin Pederson, Taytum Davidson, Camden Doster, Omar Myers-Zimmerman, Kyra Raymond, Emily Oliver

 

Welding/Fabrication (High School Division)

Third Place: Zach Hogrefe and Connor Christopher, Eagle Grove

Second Place: Greyson Seehusen and Tanner Teske, Fort Dodge

First Place: Carey Mitchell and Kaleb Gill, GMG Garwin

 

Welding/Fabrication (Career Academy Division)

Third Place: Gabe Block and Darren Peterson, Greene County

Second Place: Braden Vik and Julia Gardner, Eagle Grove

First Place: Hunter Richardson and Sam Youngdale, Triton Academy